10th Pacific Arts Festival

Malo le fa'amalosi! (to your strength). I just returned from the 10th Pacific Arts Festival in Pagopago, American Samoa. While checking in for my flight from Samoa to American Samoa, I was asked to step on the scale (along with my my bags)! Presumably, they do this for each passenger to make sure that the net weight of the 12-passenger plane doesn't exceed the limit. To me, this was a clear sign of the beginning of a new adventure....

The festival was wonderful. Although it was not well organised, it was brilliantly executed thanks to the groups from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, Wallis and Futuna, New Zealand, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, the Cook Islands, Tahiti, the Solomon Islands, and other Pacific Island countries. The photos posted here are of the performers from Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands, Kiribati, and Fiji. For more photos, click here.

Returning to Samoa

Talofa! I'm heading to Samoa this evening and will arrive there this morning (returning to New Zealand on 05 August).

Beautiful Day

Wellington's climate is kept mild due to currents of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Some say that this has been one of the warmest years - and today was a perfect day. I woke up early and went to the waterfront markets where fresh produce, meats, breads and the daily catch of fish are sold. Here are a few photos.

water treatment facility tour

One of the audits I am working on requires me to travel around New Zealand to see whether the local government entities are sufficiently planning for future water demand. This can be done either through tapping into new sources of water and increasing treatment and reticulation capacity or by managing demand through encouraging conservation. Today marked my first visit (to the Te Marua water treatment plant in Wellington). On this visit, I saw coagulation, flocculation, separation, filtration and chlorination. Here are just a couple photos of the process.

Where The Hell is Matt?

I thought I was well-traveled, until I heard about Matt Harding. If you haven't seen his website, Where the Hell is Matt, or his dancing video, please check it out... this guy danced in 42 countries with thousands of people - and got paid for it! The smile this video has put on my face - and will likely put onto yours - is well worth it! Enjoy....


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.